Purnima Shrestha

Purnima Shrestha (पूर्णिमा श्रेष्ठ), a Nepalese mountaineer and photojournalist is the first person to successfully summit Mt. Everest (Sagarmatha) three times in a single climbing season, she is also the first woman to climb the peak of Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest mountain in the world.

Early life
Shrestha was born in Arughat, Gorkha, Gandaki Province, Nepal. Growing up, she wanted to do "something big in life". Later she became a photojournalist. She is a member of the Photo Journalists’ (PJ) Club.

Mountaineering
In 2017, Shrestha visited the Everest Base Camp to cover the Everest Marathon, she describes this event where she became attracted to the mountains. On 26 September 2017, Shrestha started her mountaineering career with Manaslu, the 8th-highest mountain in the world. Although she did not have any previous experience or training in mountaineering, Shrestha wanted her first climb to be on Mount Everest, but, after everyone told her to choose a smaller mountain she opted for Manaslu.

In 2018, she summited Mount Everest, her second eight-thousander. The next year, she climbed Ama Dablam. In 2021, Shrestha with six other women climbed the peak of Annapurna. They became the first Nepali women to reach the summit of Annapurna. For their climb, the team received various honours. In October 2021, Shrestha with Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita both became the first women to successfully climb Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest mountain in the world.